Friday is the last possible day

The title of this blog refers to the fact that tomorrow I will be collecting Rambo and therefore I need his enclosure completed today. Of course this is all weather dependent and if it is like yesterday it could be a struggle. I have faith in the men though.

My work station

Today is also the first day with Lucy on the team and therefore I didn't need to get up and go collect the men as T had taken them last night and would pick them up again this morning. This allowed me a small lie in; it was good because I forgot to set my alarm but I still woke up at a good time. Before doing anything I jumped in the shower and had a super long hot scrub; it made me feel so much better and warmed me up as it was still a bit chilly this morning. After this it was time for a brew and to wake up, and then slowly start plugging my sound system in so I could put music on should I desire it. I have still got a problem with the broken pole on the back of one of the speakers (I may have to order a replacement I think; it is doing my head in, keep on cutting the bass on that side) but I am fully set up.

The first music? Nessun Dorma sung by Andrea Bocelli. Awesome.

Cracking on with the job

I was just finishing my bowl of muesli (yeah, healthy today) when Lucy was driven carefully along the lane and the workers arrived. I waited for them to come upstairs and after a few minutes decided to go and see what was happening. They had all just cracked on with the tasks for today; Bekir and Sally were doing the fence around Rambo's Run, and T was helping as much as possible. This is another thing I love about these people; they are trustworthy and reliable.

Disturbed by the flash of the camera

I went back to get on with my paid work (I have had a really good day of it today, and achieved loads) and then there was a knock on the door and it was T. Bekir and Sally had a good rhythm going on and he felt he wasn't being as productive as he wanted so he suggested getting the grinder on the little nubs of steel in the floor in Rambo's House. He had already swept up all the bits we left behind when we moved the lockers yesterday. I showed him the generator and we dragged it over with the other bits and then I left him to it, telling him he may struggle to start it. After a bit I decided to go and check out how it was going and found that he had got the gennie started straight away and was grinding away.

Fencing fencing fencing

The men had also cracked on in this time and the majority of the fence was now strung around the posts. It may have taken a bit longer than I hoped for however the job that has been done is so much better than I expected as well.

Real men do it with sparks

I did some more paying work and then T came in reporting that he had completed the metal in the floor; I immediately thought about the metal sticking out of the wall down the little corridor towards the toilet. These have eaten my legs more than once and getting rid of them will make my dash to the toilet a whole lot safer. Without much delay the generator had been dragged back over and he was grinding away like a boss. There is nothing quite like grinding a steel bar from a wall; all those sparks!

Thomas is a bit lighter now

There were a couple of other little things that I have wanted to do since I arrived; first of all remove the back from Thomas so his flat bed becomes easier to use, and then get the bikes and the few bits from the box on top of Julian. With assistance from T again I got both these things done really easily and quickly, and now the hard top is stored inside and the mountain bikes are locked away safely (and out of the weather, which had already done its job on the stickers on my GT which have peeled off. Oh well). We also removed some of the metal in the back of Lucy which had been used to lock the wheelchair in, to increase the carrying capacity.

Bottom attachment for the fence

The men were still hard at it, now doing the labourious process of attaching the fence to the concrete raft using the hooks embedded in the concrete. There are four or five of these hooks between each fence post so it was a slow process however they got on with it without complaint.

As I was back upstairs doing more paid work T came to tell me that I had a guest and it was my friend with her family, come to introduce them and show them my place. It was a lovely surprise and I did enjoy showing them around and meeting them; it took some of the uncertainty out of this evening when there'll be so many people to meet. They stayed for a coffee and had a good laugh about the humnaure (as everyone does) and then made their way on with their day, while I went to roust Bekir to get off to town. It was nearly lunch time by the point so we agreed to go after they had eaten and he ate much quicker than I; I was just finishing my second cheese, garlic ham slice thing, and tomato butty when he came up. I wolfed it down and we set off.

First port of call was the office to register Lucy in my name. The queue was long and slow moving but after about thirty minutes or so we were at the counter and the lady took all the documents, frowned, scratched her head, frowned again, read something for about 2 or 3 minutes and eventually pronounced that without a residency card I couldn't do the registration. What a waste of time. It does put some urgency on my getting one as well as I think I could be fined if I don't get the car registered soon. What a pain.

Loading the dog house

Anyway, from there we went to a place I had spotted which sold dog houses as I want something for Rambo to be able to curl up in and sleep off the cold concrete floor. It was not expensive and fitted nicely into the back of Lucy. It would not have done so without the removal of the metal earlier however.

After this we went past the window place to find out about the quote; it was ready so I don't know why they hadn't let me know but it was a good thing because Bekir noticed something and asked some questions and found out that they had specified green glass (tinted) which is not what I want; this will reduce the price so we have been instructed to return on Monday for the new quote. I did get to also ask for fly screens everywhere so hopefully they will be added on too. The price that was quoted was, even with the expensive glass, roughly the amount I was expecting so I am quite pleased about this.

Bekir with some HUGE bolt cutters

Finally we went to my building supplies to get some metal for the fence and ask for more of the bird netting. The metal was no problem but the bird netting request resulted in much confusion, me being offered fly screens (not what I want really) and then some catalogues being leafed through. The upshot was that I have to go to the other builders yard (or rather, Bekir and Sally will go, with T) on Monday to get some.

And so we returned and I got back on with my paid work (after making a coffee for everyone) and Bekir and Sally got back on with the run, while T was discovered to be working his way around the perimeter removing things which will get in the way of the easy running of the fence. I was able to arrange for the men at least next Monday and Tuesday which is good; I will hope to keep them until the whole perimeter is enclosed.

The gate, in place

The final step in the fence is the gate. We to the hinges and catch for it the other day and Sally had been hard at work putting the framework together for a chunk of today. I have just popped down and it is actually hanging on and just waiting for the chain link to be fixed over it. Wow I have an enclosure!

Meccano reuse - recycling

The men have found some Meccano from somewhere (I saved a load of it when I was clearing the school out last year, but this must have come from somewhere else I think) and, creative as usual, they are using it to fix the metal to the gate. Usmivka Mush and The Special One had popped over to see what was going on and you can see that lovely smiling face through the fence on this picture.

Beautiful view across the valley

As I was watching this going on I saw T walking across the land having come to the end of his afternoon long effort to clear a path for the perimeter fence to be done next week. He's done a great job and there are just a few places where my tools did not suffice; on Monday we will have the chainsaw and a bladed strimmer which will hopefully be able to chop through the ancient tangled brambles which are entwined with the old fence where it still exists. While I was talking to him I turned around and was struck by the beauty of the view; I ran at top speed inside to get the camera and returned and snapped a few pictures. What a place I live in!

Doggy cuddle and kiss

Finally I was happy to hear from Ken, the dog transporter, that Rambo has arrived safe and well at their place in the north of the country and is very well indeed (as you can see from the picture before and after this paragraph). He was even angling to keep Rambo for another couple of days as they like him so much; I said no, obviously, and am really looking forward to getting him tomorrow.

My pet transporter; highly recommended

So Lucy has just taken the men away and I'm now off for a shower and to try and make myself presentable for the meal tonight. I will blog about that tomorrow so you have that to look forward to. See you then.